On The Birth Of A Child

Now

I subvert my tenses
I take fifty steps backward
And fall headlong into a dance of my own forgotten childhood
Where doors are entrances
And entrances become passageways
As I turn and run into myself everywhere
falling and bleeding
my open wounds for all to witness

Now I wear my self inside out
My thoughts are a churning whirlpool of doubt
A fullstop has become a stranger
A guest in this house of strange and miraculous tenses

Now I sleep with a question mark
And awaken to the sigh of an exclamation

Now I carry a wordless prayer
I rediscover God or the possibility of a God
I weep
I am tired
I lay my head down to rest and discover
life

By Lee Tse Mei

_____